Transfer Portal is a disaster

[tnvolfan16]

i still say that NIL and transfer portal are two of the best things that have happened to the NCAA in years. without NIL and the new transfer system, there is no way a team like Washington would be playing for the national championship or a team like Missouri or Florida State would have had the season they had this year. Look at them and see where NIL and transfers have improved them drastically. And even though it has not showed up yet, eventually transfers will help level the playing field with teams like Alabama and Georgia. They may not be losing top flight starters, but their depth is getting dinged every year and that will eventually catch up to them. Personally, i think it has been a crime that a slick talking coach sits in the living room of a high school kid, who has a four year window to set himself up for any potential pro career, and fills him and his family full of hopes and dreams and promises that he knows are a crock of crap like "oh, i see your son as our QB of the future. i am going to treat him like a son" then a year after he signs, here comes two more "sons" and he is buried on the depth chart with no real options. at least now he can look for a fresh start and maximize his opportunity. you can say what you want, and i know it will cost Tennessee somewhere down the line, but i will always side with whatever benefits the kid before i would side with the school or coach who spent years making millions and millions while the players, while yes they were getting paid under the table, looked at what they got and what their coach got for a game they both participated in and had a hard time squaring that circle.

 

[BreatheUT]

From terrible bowl games to opt outs to portal guys attendance for bowl games were bad. Add inflation and I think the sport can only go downhill. Network payouts don't equal butts in seats.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

The ncaa should have said we cannot control what boosters do with their money along time ago. If boosters wanted to give kids money they simply should have let them. If boosters wanted to give athletes jobs they should have been allowed. They still had to pass and the NCAA had plenty other things they could have worried about. Instead they tried to be Barney Fife and try to police every little thing but they forgot they weren’t in Mayberry. Now all of it has blown up on them, and they caused it all.

We'd really end up with the same system we have now with NIL, wouldn't we?

It would've been wealthy donors paying players and the schools that can rev up the donors will recruit athletes away from other schools.

I don't see that as a fix but rather it would've gotten to essentially the same point earlier.

 

[turbovol]

For those of you who think the TP and NIL is a great idea, let’s discuss how crappy it’s become in just 2.5 years. We have gone from players wanting some money shares for jersey sales and player cards signings for money to pay for play and basically uncontrolled free agency! Bowl season was laughable with players opting out during the game. Starting QBs for new years six games transferring out. Now Quinshon from Mississippi has left and he’s leaving what I feel a very real contender for the Natty next year.

If we don’t get some sort of overseeing body on this soon, college football will not survive!

Thoughts?

It's a complete mess---rampant commercialism, greed and chaos. Ask the coaches how they like it. They've got to restock their rosters, if they can, constantly. Players leaving in large numbers, some as rising seniors for no good reason save for maybe--maybe--getting sucker money from another school. Widespread tampering. Widespread opt-outs that have turned bowl games into a genuine joke---many of the best players not playing. Appeals to fans and boosters to contribute money to NIL collectives so that your school can out-bribe other schools for high-school prospects who may not even pan out. It's all gotten crass--the athletic version of the Kardashians. No recognition of the free college education they're all getting--a benefit every regular college student would kill for. 18-20 team "conferences" soon, spread all over the country: they aren't conferences at all--just a huge collection of TV-money-grubbers. College football is now some, ridiculous bastardized form of pro football--there's no "college" in it anymore. The sport has no leadership--it's just anything goes now, and every man for himself.

 

[turbovol]

The ncaa should have said we cannot control what boosters do with their money along time ago. If boosters wanted to give kids money they simply should have let them. If boosters wanted to give athletes jobs they should have been allowed. They still had to pass and the NCAA had plenty other things they could have worried about. Instead they tried to be Barney Fife and try to police every little thing but they forgot they weren’t in Mayberry. Now all of it has blown up on them, and they caused it all.

Yes, just let everybody cheat rampantly and don't worry about it. What a solution that would have been. Every sport needs boundaries. The NCAA's rules were fine; it simply didn't have enough manpower or resources to enforce them. It probably should have delegated that to the conferences.

 

[turbovol]

NIL as originally conceived was fine--but it's been completely corrupted, as we've seen.

However, any judge who thinks that college football and the players should be treated as a conventional business--with the players as "employees" who should be paid--is insane. It's not a conventional business, never has been, given that football revenues, much of them, are devoted to subsidizing all the other sports that are money-losers. No conventional business operates like that, and it's absurd to think so.

 

[sjt18]

For those of you who think the TP and NIL is a great idea, let’s discuss how crappy it’s become in just 2.5 years. We have gone from players wanting some money shares for jersey sales and player cards signings for money to pay for play and basically uncontrolled free agency! Bowl season was laughable with players opting out during the game. Starting QBs for new years six games transferring out. Now Quinshon from Mississippi has left and he’s leaving what I feel a very real contender for the Natty next year.

If we don’t get some sort of overseeing body on this soon, college football will not survive!

Thoughts?

The portal needs to be done better. Any effort to regulate NIL will likely make it worse. The real answer is to take the top 64 teams and create a new division of competition for CFB. They should not be allowed to play outside that division and should have a real playoff for the championship. Eight leagues of 8 with 5 OOC games. Rivalry games could be maintained even if they weren't conference games.

The portal window needs to be different and shorter. Maybe have a declaration period for a week (or less) after the NC game and again after spring practice followed by 2-3 weeks for visits and commitment.

 

[Voltopia]

NIL as originally conceived was fine--but it's been completely corrupted, as we've seen.

However, any judge who thinks that college football and the players should be treated as a conventional business--with the players as "employees" who should be paid--is insane. It's not a conventional business, never has been, given that football revenues, much of them, are devoted to subsidizing all the other sports that are money-losers. No conventional business operates like that, and it's absurd to think so.

Not to mention the fact that most of these operations are, in one way or another, touched by tax dollars and public spending. Good luck figuring out just where and how to draw the lines on what is appropriate spending in such a situation.

 

[sjt18]

NIL as originally conceived was fine--but it's been completely corrupted, as we've seen.

Like any new market, it will take a while for supply and demand to settle down. A&M is an example of a team trying a big NIL swing and losing. Eventually what works will rise to the top. It won't likely be what we've seen so far.

However, any judge who thinks that college football and the players should be treated as a conventional business--with the players as "employees" who should be paid--is insane. It's not a conventional business, never has been, given that football revenues, much of them, are devoted to subsidizing all the other sports that are money-losers. No conventional business operates like that, and it's absurd to think so.

All of them are paid. A scholarship is a form of payment. It isn't a conventional business but similar.

A lot of companies for different reasons carry money losers. One example I can think of is a company that operates one department to support another even at a loss for security reasons. Lots of companies operate charity divisions in part to raise their image with the public.

Environmental, Health, and Safety is financed by other activities but has to exist in response to regulation. Not the same but similar to colleges having unprofitable sports due to regulation.

 

[VolBalla2014]

The most important thing to remember is that NIL and the transfer portal are both brand new entities, so the NCAA and other governing bodies haven't fully figured out how to police it yet. There is 100% tampering occurring at most programs and there's going to have to be way stricter penalties for that sort of stuff, if college football is going to keep its charm. It's like the Wild West right now. I guarantee players are getting calls from other programs year round, and until the NCAA makes an example out of one of them (please be Ole Miss), it's going to keep happening.

 

[orangemadam]

All part of this "woke" culture. It is here to stay, for better or worse

 

[irish1485]

Lol y’all are so dramatic college football not going anywhere it will just look different and adapt… i love that the players are getting paid it’s long overdue it will work itself out it’s still brand new… I’m excited to have coach heup in the new era of college football.

This.. the whole "ruining" college football narrative is so extreme lol

 

[VolMarine1371]

They are forgetting about the fan and the fans are already starting to leave!

Not really. Everyone thought that no one would watch the UGA vs FSU game due to all the opt outs, and yet it had over 10 million viewers which was most watched game outside the CFP.

Some fans will leave but it won’t make a differences. Remember when all these people said that they was done with the NFL couple years ago when they went all political and started supporting the BLM movement? Well guess what? The NFL is still as strong as ever it was during the Kapernick times.

 

[VolMarine1371]

What boxing said in the 70s and early 80s. It nearly disappeared. NASCAR is the same. Keep thinking it!!!

This mess has happened in less than 3 years and no one is stepping in to stop it. Hell the coaches are even saying it’s a disaster!

Boxing is actually boring now without the likes of Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Holyfield, Ali, Sugar Ray, Foreman and Mayweather.

Same as with nascar. All the legends that were entertaining to watch all retired or died out and NASCAR didn’t change with the times and now it’s lost its ratings. NASCAR is mainly watched by certain type of people and is more of a geographical sport. Football on the other hand is played all over the United States and watched by all types of people. Football isn’t going anywhere, it’s just gonna look different than it did 30 years ago.

 

[ReelfootVol]

College football....................my favorite pastime is on it's way out. May take a few years and I am too old to worry about it, however, my son definitely will have to see it happen.

 

[Raebo]

NIL and the transfer portal certainly gives us something to talk about after the regular season is done. Maybe it has helped increase interest. It has helped UT big time IMO. Imagine where we would be without Hooker, Nico, etc..
I think all the new Lady Vol players this year were through the portal. IE no recruits.

It does hurt the smaller schools that are now like the minor leagues for the bigger schools. It hurts Power 5 teams that don't have a big collective for the sport like Indiana losing Penix to Washington.

IMO it will help with parity among the top 20-30 teams but it will make it harder for the schools at the bottom of the ladder without the big resource (including NIL money) to climb up.

 

[BruisedOrange]

Here's as well rounded a discussion as I've seen, in which Condoleezza Rice states that she kept warning the NCAA that they needed to get out front on this and design something fair before the courts ruled and made a mess of it.

 

[DarkVolder]

College football....................my favorite pastime is on it's way out. May take a few years and I am too old to worry about it, however, my son definitely will have to see it happen.

College football isn’t going anywhere lol. It’s more popular than ever

 

[EZE]

For those of us that loved the game as it was, it’s a disaster. Let’s look at the situation as it stands.

Many have said the NCAA needs to do something, set limits, do away with transfers. The NIL situation is where it is today because the NCAA was stubborn and overreaching. If they had allowed for reasonable stipends that were more commiserate with a players worth, we might not be in this mess.

The court case that began this is now the law of the land and there’s only one solution and absolutely no one wants to go there.

No one can set a persons value in the marketplace. That’s how the free enterprise system works and that ship left the dock when the court ruled.

Currently, there is another case that would punish the NCAA for forbidding students from being paid directly by the schools. There is also provision in the suit for a 4 year reach back that would compensate players from 2019 till the time the case is settled. In antitrust cases that’s a thing. Schools could be forced to go back from the time the original case was ruled. Imagine the cost of that.

The reason no one wants this is the only way limits can be enforced is if that case won and players become employees. Then, players would organize and then collective bargaining could enforce caps because the players would have agreed to it when they voted on it. The reason no one wants this is because if a collective bargaining entity negotiated caps, they are bound by law to fairly negotiate for all employees. So kids who are getting pennies now would be earning a substantial living wage. The schools don’t want it. The marquee players don’t want it. Yet fans keep clamoring for it and it would be far more worse than the system that is now in place. I wish there was a way to set caps. It would level the playing ground for lesser programs and stop the bidding wars for the best players but the court ruling basically castrated the NCAA when it comes to enforcement. The last thing the NCAA needs is to get involved in another losing lawsuit. Enforcing caps without players being employees with collective bargaining is a great big lawsuit loss for the NCAA. Another loss of that magnitude and the NCAA may as well fold their tent.

There is another route, but it doubtfully would produce anything resembling a better solution…Congress could act. But, again, given their track record, it likely would just muck if up even more.

As you stated…CFB is in a real quandary given the positions taken by the courts (including SCOTUS) so far on these issues. Something needs to be done and oversight is badly needed…but everyone’s hands are tied. Except for the players…they have all of the power.

It’s like the Wild, Wild West.

 

[Butch s]

For those of you who think the TP and NIL is a great idea, let’s discuss how crappy it’s become in just 2.5 years. We have gone from players wanting some money shares for jersey sales and player cards signings for money to pay for play and basically uncontrolled free agency! Bowl season was laughable with players opting out during the game. Starting QBs for new years six games transferring out. Now Quinshon from Mississippi has left and he’s leaving what I feel a very real contender for the Natty next year.

If we don’t get some sort of overseeing body on this soon, college football will not survive!

Thoughts?

Been saying this all along. Told I was a fool, and just had to adapt to the changes. This is absolutely destroying the game. Letting the inmates run the asylum

 

[Butch s]

Hard to believe this all started with ea sports and a damn video game

 

[VOLinAL]

Should have kept it basic. These students are already getting a free education worth upwards of 50-100k, never have to pay for food, housing, or healthcare. Pay them a stipend based on their class and go back to allowing one transfer and any additional transfers for special circumstances. Make the NFL something they have to elevate to. Them making more money in college than a rookie contract is dumb.

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

Also it seems many players will get left out with nowhere to go from the portal and their previous school may have filled their slot. Not to mention a fouled up transcript that does not get close to a B.S. degree at multiple universities. Some teams may pick up players late in the game as PWOs who were not offered much or anything from the portal process - and then they are available on the cheap.

Won't those scenarios happening help to slow the roll of the athletes, given time? Very rarely do big changes come with a smooth transition from one status to another without hiccups and problems. However, that should never stop us from doing what's right or improving a product/service.

NIL is the biggest change to amateur athletics and is widely misunderstood by the public, IMO.

The transfer portal is also a publicly misunderstood change (although the publics perception may become a reality) that has happened recently.

IMO, both are good things, and the collectives and coaches that most wisely use them will have a tremendous advantage in playing for championships.

Some simple rule changes by the NCAA could make the portal problems with regard to bowl games better. Some different wording or structuring of NIL contracts could do the same.

 

[KTrain]

It will sort itself out. Give it 2-3 years. The imbalances will find resistance limits. Any static system will take time to find a new equilibrium when the forces in that system change drastically. I think it actually will have a tendency to balance out the talent across many more schools. Instead of Alabama and Georgia lining their bench with 5 stars that feel stuck, they will go where they can play. A win for everyone except Bama and Georgia.

Yep, we don't really have enough data for counselors to sit down with a player who is thinking about the portal. He may have talked to his friend that portaled and said he is happy with the decision but he may be performing like a 2 star even though he & his buddy were labeled 4 stars. After about 6 years they will be able to sit down with enough data and say look you could end up without a team and have to walk-on somewhere like player X or some of you're classes don't transfer to that University your graduation date will be moved way out. Just a lot to put in a basket. The teams it is starting to hurt worse is the ones that finished in the Top 5 recruiting they will not be able to hold on to on 4 & 5 star recruits as back-ups for 2 years, guys will leave with offers through their handlers. I saw a sports reporter discussing Alabama Center having difficulty with snaps all through the game. He said 5 years ago Saban would have sat him and put someone in that was just right there with him on blocking but had the snaps down but now that luxury is gone through the portal. The back ups are too Raw to put in a playoff game and now getting to the Dirty Dozen playoff, you can't have any more than 2 hiccups, so the whole season is a playoff. WE found that out at USC junior in 2022.

 

[Mccage]

For those of you who think the TP and NIL is a great idea, let’s discuss how crappy it’s become in just 2.5 years. We have gone from players wanting some money shares for jersey sales and player cards signings for money to pay for play and basically uncontrolled free agency! Bowl season was laughable with players opting out during the game. Starting QBs for new years six games transferring out. Now Quinshon from Mississippi has left and he’s leaving what I feel a very real contender for the Natty next year.

If we don’t get some sort of overseeing body on this soon, college football will not survive!

Thoughts?

it’s coming